Despite Progress, Three-quarters of a Million Infections Threaten Hospital Patients Each Year.

Despite Progress, Three-quarters of a Million Infections Threaten Hospital Patients Each Year.

On any given day, approximately one in 25 U.S. hospital patients has at least one infection picked up during the course of their care, adding up to about 722,000 infections, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This information is an update to previous CDC estimates of healthcare-associated infections.

The agency released two reports today – one, a New England Journal of Medicine article detailing national healthcare-associated infection estimates, and the other an annual report on national and state-specific progress toward U.S. Health and Human Services HAI prevention goals. Together, the reports show that progress has been made in the effort to eliminate infections that commonly threaten hospital patients, but more work is needed to improve patient safety.

"Although there has been some progress, today and every day, more than 200 Americans with healthcare-associated infections will die during their hospital stay,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “The most advanced medical care won’t work if clinicians don’t prevent infections through basic things such as regular hand hygiene. Health care workers want the best for their patients; following standard infection control practices every time will help ensure their patients’ safety."

Additional Links:

NEJM article (to be available at 5pm ET today): Full access if you link through the CDC website (see top link):

National and State HAI Progress Report:

Updated state-specific information (click on your state to see specifics of state data and prevention efforts):